Choosing a name in a bicultural family = headache

So, here is the issue: my husband is Australian (originally from England) and I'm French (as in, I only came here 3 years ago so I'm still quite culturally attached to my country).

We're trying to get a shortlist of names that we both like and we're actually having trouble finding just one girl's name and one boy's name that we both love and are excited about.
First, I don't know what sounds bogan, outside of names shortened with "zzah" at the end, so I rely entirely on my partner for this. It has lead to many "What about this name?" "Noooo, this is so bogan he'll probably be born with a mullet" "Oh".

The second problem is that he doesn't particularly like many French names, mostly because he's not used to hearing them so they just sound like random words to him (how cute is Malo, though? Very cute, that's how).
There's also the fact that pronunciation is quite different between the two languages, which excludes some combination of letters. For example, we got really excited about the name River, until I realised it sounded weird in French, because of how we pronounce the "r".

Almost any name we choose will be slightly "mispronounced" by half the family, but we should try to avoid letters that are said TOO differently.

We also don't know for sure where the kid(s) will grow up. We'll certainly be in Australia for the next 4 years or so, but after that we might move to France, or somewhere else entirely.

Anyway. This post sounds more like a whinge than an actual question, haha! But has anyone else been in that situation? What did you do, did you go for an English sounding name, or did you choose a name that's culturally significant to you, even if it means sometimes having to correct people's pronunciation or spelling?

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DH and I are from different cultural/ethic backgrounds but we're both the same religion so decided on Arabic names for our kids which made it a bit easier. DD1 has a name that if you don't know it's Arabic sounds like I've 'modernized' a well known name so I suppose some people might think it's a bit bogan. Whenever people enquirer about her name I say it's ***** then quickly follow up with, it's Arabic, so they realize it's not a bogan variation of the common name.

I love French names, there are so many beautiful French names! If I were you I'd choose a name that's culturally significant. Could you choose a name that has an English and French pronunciation like Amelia/ Amelie, Angela/ Angelina, Alexandra/ Alexandrine?

Or maybe an English first name and French middle name? And you could each use the name you prefer?

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I'm not as attached to my heritage (Dutch) as I'm born in Australia and only visited Holland. My husband is like 6th generation Australia. And we intend to live in Australia.
My children all have Dutch middle names (well my eldests in German, but same theory).
Two are very obviously foreign names, and two just look like "Aussie names" and that we can't spell. But their first names are a mix of Irish, English and American really. All with what are considered "normal" spelling here.

The Following User Says Thank You to Ahalfdozen For This Useful Post:

DH and I are both Australian but we actually gave our dd a traditionally French name. It's quite a common name in Australia though it is pronounced slightly differently here than it is in France. There are lots of beautiful French names that Australians are familiar with. For example, Eloise, Chloe, Madeleine, Amelie. I'm not so good with boys names.
Could you look for a name like that?

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Choosing a name in a bicultural family = headache

Hi there. I am a 4th generation Australian and DH is a 1st. His parents are French. DH has a very French name, his brother more so (and we have a very French surname).

I was keen to go with a French name for our kids provided we liked it and it 'fit' here (by that I mean the child wouldn't have to spell it and clarify its pronunciation forevermore). We didn't go with a French name for our boy - we simply fell in love with another name. But we did call our girl G.eorgette C.ecile (second name after DH's French god mother).

DD has had a pretty smooth run with her name so far. Sometimes she gets called Georgia but she cheerfully corrects people. She's very proud of her French name, which is pretty cool. And it sounds divine when my inlaws say her name (sans Australian accent!!!).

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Choosing a name in a bicultural family = headache

We are much the same. I'm Australian and my husband is South African (Afrikaner - Dutch/German) for him it's very traditional for first child to carry family names however none and I mean none translate well. He struggles daily with his name and is called a name completely different to his actual name due to the mispronunciation of letters. W is pronounced V, G is pronounced like you are clearing your throat, V is pronounced f etc etc.

I personally LOVE the names and can pronounce them but not all Australians can or bother trying unfortunately. But I do have a love for culture.

So we are going with simple English style names which can be pronounced in both countries that are a variation of his family names.

We will live in Australia so it is important for the child not to have the issues with pronouncing his name correctly as this drives my husband and his father up the wall. My husband has only been here 3 years also but understands the difficulty.

Another thing to bear in mind is that Australia is very multicultural so generally it's not a big issue.

I have a daughter from a previous marriage her name is french Amity. I believe there are many ways of spelling it however we chose the most common spelling found for the name in Australian.

I have a German back ground and my son's name is Uri.ch the ch is pronounced as a k. He does have to correct people but it's an easy one to correct and it's usually never an issue second time round.

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I'm slightly obsessed with the 'waltzing more than Matilda' name site- maybe have a look there for French-esque suggestions or even email her with your conundrum and see whether she can come up with some suggestions for you! https://waltzingmorethanmatilda.com/...ench&search=Go

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